HEREFORDSHIRE Council faces a challenge to its “secretive” transfer of Queenswood Country Park and Bodenham Lake nature reserve to a newly created company.

A protest meeting planned for Bodenham village hall from 7pm this Saturday will assess the strength of opposition to the transfer.

If opposition is strong enough, another meeting is proposed at a bigger venue to pressure the council into putting any decision off for a new council to make after the May election.

As reported by the Hereford Times, the council is ready to hand a  99 year lease on Queenswood and Bodenham Lake to a new company established by the New Leaf co-operative and Herefordshire Nature Trust (HNT).

The iconic sites are among a host of natural assets countywide that the council can no longer afford to keep.

Councillor Harry Bramer, cabinet member for contracts and assets, sealed the  groundbreaking deal in principle this week.

But related recommendations mean HNT and New Leaf must demonstrate the capacity to cover operating costs before the transfer can go ahead, with any handover still be subject to a call in by the council's scrutiny committee.

Objections or alternative proposals could still put a stop  to the transfer if deemed valid.

Another county nature charity, Siren Conservation, has its own plans for both sites and want any decision on their future deferred until after the council elections in May.

Siren’s Sasha Norris cited “wide reaching concern” at the closed doors decision to transfer the sites.

“Proper community consultation has not been undertaken, we asked this decision is deferred until after the election - Bodenham Lake and Queenswood are very important assets for people and for nature,” she said.

In the interim, Siren is calling for confirmation of – and commitment to - the on-going protected status of the sites to prevent any possibility of future development or sell-off.

The future  management of both sites is crucial to the council’s savings plans.

But the council has options to retain responsibility if the transfer cannot go ahead.

Council officers have been working with not for profit New Leaf and HNT - which manages 54 local nature reserves - over the past year to support the development of the business plan.

New Leaf's proposal does not indicate any ongoing financial contribution from the council, with the new company expected to operate entirely independently.

The transfer recommendation requires financial viability for a minimum of three months on transfer and continued financial sustainability as agreed by the council’s chief financial officer.

A financial plan provided includes projections over the first five years and cash flow projections for the first two years  of operation.

The council will set out the terms of the leasehold transfer, sub letting terms and other triggers that could see the sites returned to the council.

As part of the council’s medium term financial plan, there is an agreed savings target  of £300,000 - £150,000 in 2014/15 and £150,000 in 2015/16 - to cut the cost of countryside services to zero.

Anticipated savings as a result of the transfer recommendations will mainly come from further staff reductions (£120,000) and other cuts to operational costs of £30,000.